The Great Open Day Obstacle

I should, if I had it my way, be writing this blog post from the rooftop apartment which overlooked Rome, eating mozzarella and bathing in the spring sunshine. This is sadly not the case as my holiday has now ended, and the next 10 weeks will be filled with crying and revision- oh to be a sixth former!
To give myself peace of mind that I am in some way spreading my somewhat limited but amusing (at least I hope) wisdom, here is a post about open days.

Summer time (shh we're nearly there. Or at least I was when I was in Rome yesterday. Sigh.) means open day time. This roughly translates to gallivanting around universities, aimlessly looking at slightly shabby accommodation and nabbing as much free stuff as possible. For many, there is no clear action plan with open days and this makes me sad. As an experienced open day goer (I went to 9, I was a little bit obsessed.) I have developed a solid plan for you to follow.

• Make sure you book yourself onto said open days, if needs be, and sign in. They will keep track of who has signed on and arrived, and may help your application (this could be an urban myth, but it doesn't hurt).
• Take a parent/guardian/someone responsible. I mentioned this in my 'How Do I University' post, and I meant it. Going with your friends sounds like a laugh but, sorry for being a party pooper, your parents/guardians/responsible person are the ones who will be helping you/probably paying through this process. Plus they will inevitably ask questions to the slightly scary people who you're too shy to say anything too- which is a bonus.
• Plan before you go. Check how to get there and what talks/tours you want to do. The planning will get smoother with each open day, and soon you'll be darting in and out of the confused crowd of teenagers who don't know where the shuttle bus leaves. Amateurs. 
• Take a bag and a pen/paper. One of my parents always did, and we always used them. I don't know how just do it- you'll look really prepared and cool.
• Go to student finance talks. Please. At least one. They are super helpful in outlining what you're entitled to and will make your process for student loans a lot easier. And it will make your parents happy which, during the uni process, is a blessing; trust me.
• Go to the course talk. Every time. This seems really obvious but, even if like me you're doing a course that has to be the same at every uni, the way its presented etc is really important. If the course leader squishes you all into a small room and talks at you for 2 hours, re-evaluate that uni.
• Visit the course building(s) that you are interested in! You'll find current students there who will give you the most realistic spin on the course that they can, and it will be worthwhile. Plus you should be going for the course talk anyway....
• Go along to the student union because they're usually super cool and make you think 'oh wowee I wanna go here!', plus that is where the free stuff is.
• If possible, hop along to student accommodation. It's a distant future thought, I know, but it could be a make or break. One uni I visited planned to put all the nursing students together in this creepy cul-de-sac; deal breaker.
• Know your limits. Once you start wishing that you had never even thought about uni because your feet ache so much, or you are planning on slicing off the face of the next person who mentions the word student loans; stop. Take a break. It's a surprisingly tiring experience, don't be afraid to have a nice piece of cake and a cuppa.
• Try and be practical. You could be living in this environment for 3 years! Don't decide to choose a uni based on the fact that it has a really pretty lake on campus.

I know it's a long list, but its stuff I wish I had known. I grant my knowledge to you, young warrior, use it well.

If you're mega keen to know where I went/applied to get the inside gossip, Tweet/comment/tumblr message me.

Thanks for reading,
Kitty x